During an infection, the body's innate immune system will be activated, bringing a number of non-specific defensive mechanisms (as opposed to the specific responses of the adaptive immune system such as antibodies) to bear on the threat. Neutrophils are one of the cell types involved in the innate immune response. They will actively attack a pathogen by producing a respiratory burst; exposing the pathogenic cell to hydrogen peroxide, free radicals, and hypochlorite. Neutrophils are also phagocytic, meaning that they will engulf and then degrade pathogenic cells or damaged host cells; essentially “eating” a unwanted cell in order to destroy it. When neutrophils themselves die, they can release fibers of DNA associated with histones and a number of antimicrobial proteins. These neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) entangle and kill bacterial pathogens.